More election debates in demand

When the French-language leaders debates concluded on Wednesday night, some might have heaved a sigh of relief at the conclusion of two uninterrupted hours of political sniping.

Not so Rick Mercer, who tweeted the following as the debaters moved off-set to the media scrum outside:

Mercer was not alone in his call for more televised debates. Journalists from various Canadian media – perhaps in frustration at Stephen Harper’s five question limit from the press during campaign media appearances – echoed Mercer’s request.

Most appearances by party leaders during an election campaign are heavily managed, with few opportunities for unscripted dialogue. The leaders debates are typically the only opportunity during a campaign for the leaders of Canada’s major political parties to confront each other face-to-face on the issues of the election.

Many major issues are mentioned only in passing during the debates as leaders scramble to offer the best answers in the limited time available. Among the most noticeable absences during the leaders debates was discussion of the environment and digital technology policy.

OpenMedia.ca, a non-partisan organization working to improve Canada’s digital technology policy, worked particularly hard to have the issue of Internet policy, and specifically Internet access prices, addressed in the debates.

According to Steve Anderson, the founder of the organization, more than 2000 OpenMedia.ca supporters wrote in requesting that the organization’s question on digital issues be asked, but the consortium of television broadcasters responsible for the debates did not select it for inclusion.

“It’s really disappointing, because I would say the biggest citizen’s movement in recent history in Canada has been around this pro-internet movement that’s developed this year,” said Anderson, noting that nearly half a million Canadians have signed OpenMedia.ca’s petition against metered Internet usage.

“If you look at the numbers … the debates were very popular. I think that they should have more,” Anderson continued. “I’m surprised that (the Internet issue) didn’t come up this time. I think if they had more (debates) it would for sure come up.”

Apathy is Boring is an organization that works to motivate and inform young voters, a difficult task given that Elections Canada reports only 37.4 per cent of eligible 18 to 24 year olds actually voted in the 2008 election.

“It is a little bit frustrating when young people are only mentioned (during the debates) in the context of being young offenders,” said Illona Dougherty, founder of Apathy is Boring.

“Research does show that if people do watch the debates, then there’s more likelihood that they will actually get out and vote,” she added, though she also pointed out that adding debates would only prove useful if people tuned in to watch them.

Adding more debates to the campaign schedule is possible. The rules for the leaders debates are set by a consortium of Canadian broadcasters, and change from election to election.

Following Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s proposal for a one-on-one face-off against Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff early in the campaign, the Liberals seem to have embraced the idea of another debate, albeit in a much more limited format.

Ignatieff is open to a televised one-on-one debate with Harper “anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” said Liberal spokesperson Marc Roy.

“(Ignatieff) very much believes that the Canadian public could … be better informed on May 2nd if there is a chance to have more debate,” said Roy.

However, when asked if the Canadian public would benefit from hearing the more diverse conversation of another debate between the leaders of all major parties, he demurred. “There already has been two debates with all four parties,” said Roy. “There has not been a debate with the two people running to be Prime Minister. We believe that there should be such a debate.”

Green Party leader Elizabeth May didn’t mince words on the prospect of a Harper vs. Ignatieff debate. “I think that’s a perversion of the Canadian parliamentary democratic system,” she said. “We should have all the major federal political parties in a debate, and that includes the Greens.”

May also stood strongly in favour of more televised debates, suggesting that in addition to more leaders debates, encounters between other party members on specific topics could help address what she called the “inadequate list of issues that get debated in the leaders debate.”

Conservative and NDP officials could not be reached for comment.

There is precedent for more than one debate in each official language. As recently as the 2006 election, there were two debates held in each language: the first set of debates was held in mid-December, while the second was held in January, two weeks before voting day.

The 1984 elections also saw more than two televised debates. In addition to introducing a French language debate for the first time, this election saw a bilingual debate dedicated specifically to women’s issues.

Ultimately, the process of resolving the frustrations of the leaders’ debates may not lie with the political parties. “Those debates, I hope, will be the very last debates in the history of Canada organized by the group that calls itself ‘the consortium,’ which doesn’t have the benefit of accountability or integrity,” said May, before returning to the campaign trail without the benefit of an appearance in this election’s leaders debates.